Apparatus for the impaling of weft-knitted and warp-knitted goods on needles

ABSTRACT

Apparatus for the mechanical impaling of weft-knitted and warpknitted goods on needles of knit-goods machines which includes a pair of rollers having peripheral grooves gripping around the needle heads. The rollers are adapted to act on the goods to be impaled and are arranged so as to have their grooves gripping the needles consecutively with one roller ahead of the other roller in the working direction. The first roller has a groove of less depth than the groove of the second roller to narrowly grip the extremity of each needle. In turn, the second roller has a wider groove than the groove of the first roller adapted to the curvature of the needle and the thickness of the goods. Vibration means are provided to vibrate the rollers in a direction substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the needles and the rollers are axially shiftable on their axles.

United States Patent Merkle [72] Inventor: Eberhardt Merkle,Stuttgart-Vaihingen, Germany [73] Assignee: Wilhelm Bleyle KG,Stuttgart, Germany 22 Filed: May 8, 1969 [21] 'Appl.No.: 822,993

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data July 17, 1968 Germany ..P 17 60903.9

[52] US. Cl ..112/25 [51] Int. Cl. ..l )05b 7/00 [58] Field of Search..l 12/25-27 [56] I References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 543,7957/1895 Arnold ..1l2/25 X 928,787 7/1909 Nelson ..l12/25 1,672,021 6/1928Cohen ..1 12/26 Oct. 10, 1972 2,889,789- 3,100,464 Wick et a]. ..1 12/27Primary Examiner-Jordan Franklin Assistant Examiner-Geo. V. LarkinAttorney-Kane, Dalsimer, Kane, Sullivan & Kurucz 57 ABSTRACT Apparatusfor the mechanical impaling of weft-knitted and warp-knitted goods onneedles of knit-goods machines which includes a pair of rollers havingperipheral grooves gripping around the needle heads. The rollers areadapted to act on the goods to be impaled and are arranged so as to havetheir grooves gripping the needles consecutively with one roller aheadof the other roller in the working direction. The first roller has agroove of less depth than the groove of the second roller to narrowlygrip the extremity of each needle. In turn, the second roller has awider groove than the groove of the first roller adapted to thecurvature of the needle and the thickness of the goods. Vibration meansare provided to vibrate the rollers in a direction substantiallyparallel to the longitudinal axis of the needles and the rollers areaxially shiftable on their axles.

6 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures Sidore ..1 12/26 APPARATUS FOR THE IMPALINGOF WEFT- KNITTED AND WARP-KNITTED GOODS ON NEEDLES BACKGROUND OF THEINVENTION The present invention relates to a device for the mechanicalimpaling of weft-knitted and warp-knitted goods on needles of circularlooping machines. The. device acts by means of a roller having aperipheral groove gripping around the needles on the goods to beimpaled.

Even with high ability, the impaling of pieces of goods on needles byhand requires a great expenditure of time. This expenditure considerablylimits the possibilities of exploitation of the looping machines.Furthermore, in the case of fine mesh and heavy goods it requires greatefforts which can lead to damage to the hands, particularly of femaleworkers.

In order to limit the expenditure of time for the impaling to the sameas for looping and to be able to carry it out in the same operation, ithas already been proposed to provide a drive-free, freely movable rollerwith a peripheral groove extending around the needles positioned on abracket arranged radially on the middle column of the looping machine.By pivoting this bracket, the roller can be guided along the needle overthe pieces of goods to be impaled, which are shifted down on the needleshafts. Furthermore, it has already been proposed to arrange likewisefreely rotatable roller on the front extremity, seen in workingdirection, of a glide rail which has the task to push the pieces ofgoods down on the needles. The freely rotatable roller acts on one sideof the needle on the piece of goods gripped by the needles and pulledthrough under the impaling device.

Such devices can accomplish their task only in the case of light goodssuch as stockings, but not in the case of of heavy and fine-meshed goodswhich have a considerable resistance against the shifting down on theneedle shaft. The shifting down is then possible only under strongpressure and multiple to-and-fro movements of the work supportingneedles orthe impaling device, therefore, there is no longer anyadvantage when compared with impaling by hand. Fine mesh flexible piecesof goods such as those of synthetic fiber or those lined with taffetatend to tilt on the extremities of the needles and to clamp between theroller or its grooved wall and the needles.

Still further, it has been proposed to have freely movable rollers orguiding rails in a to-and-fro movement in the direction of the needleswhich act on the pieces of goods guided underneath them by the worksupporting needles. However, the working of this device, which dependsupon the working cycle of the sewing apparatus or the rotation of thework supporting points, is not able to avoid the disadvantages describedabove, so that it can likewise be only used for light merchandise suchas in the looping of stockings. In actual practice, none of the abovesuggested proposals has satisfied the requirements of the art.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is a purpose of the invention to avoid theabove discussed disadvantages and to provide a mechanical impalingdevice which can also impale knitable fabrics having the tendency totilt or to wedge themselves, heavy goods in several layers and goodswith seams.

In general, this result is produced by arranging a further roller behinda freely movable roller which is in front in working direction. Each ofthe rollers has a peripheral groove gripping on two sides around theneedles. The depth of action of the front roller is smaller than that ofthe following roller and the first roller narrowly encloses theextremities of the work supporting needles. In contrast, the rear rollerhas a larger width to its groove and is adapted to the curvature of theneedles and the thickness of the material respectively. Means areadditionally provided which is utilized to subnrit the two rollers torapid vibration of high frequency in their direction of action. The tworollers are arranges so that they are actually axially shiftable ontheir respective axles and furthermore the outer rim of the disc-shapedlateral limits of the groove of each roller is chamfered toward theinterior. The rollers may be interchangeable so that rollers with awidth and depth of the groove can be selected according to the goods tobe impaled. A holder may also be provided on the impaling device. Thereis supplementary means which may be fastened on the holder such as edgepressing rollers, edge rules, optical enlargement devices or lightingfixtures. The rapid vibration of the cited pair of rollers can begenerated by a magnet oscillator. The impaling device may be guided onan arm pivoting around the middle column of the looping machine. Thisarm would be utilized for elastically pressing the impaling deviceagainst the pieces of goods to be impaled. Furthermore, means may beprovided which allow the device to be swung away to and from a workingposition and its blocking in whichever respective position desired.

In short, the apparatus'provided by this invention embodies a device forthe mechanical impaling of weftknitted and wrap-knitted goods on needlesof knitgoods machines. The apparatus basically includes a first andsecond roller with each roller having a peripheral groove grippingaround the needles. The first and second rollers are adapted to act onthe goods to be impaled and are arranged so as to have their groovesembracing the needles consecutively with the first roller leading thesecond roller in the working direction. The first roller has a groove ofless depth than the groove of the second roller to narrowly grip theextremity of each needle. A second roller has a wider groovethan thegroove of the first roller and is adapted to the curvature of the needleand the thickness of the goods. Vibration means are provided to vibratethe rollers in a direction substantially parallel to the longitudinalaxis of the needle and the rollers are axially shiftable on theirrespective axles.

With the above and other objects in mind, reference is had to theattached drawing of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a front elevation view of the apparatus of the invention inoperational position with respect to a looping machine shown by means ofa sectional view through a work supporting needle plate thereof;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the apparatus of the invention shown mounted onthe work supporting needle plate of a looping machine and depicted inthe direction A as indicated in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged partial front elevation view of the apparatus ofthe invention showing a detail of the front roller; and

FIG. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary front elevation view of the apparatusof the invention showing the rear roller portion thereof.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT As depicted in the drawings,rollers 3 and 4, which act on fabric 2 to be impaled on the worksupporting needles, are rotatable on the pivot pin and can be axiallyshifted. Pivot pins Sare rigidly mounted on roller holder 6 which itselfis rigidly connected with the swinging axle configured as an extendedrocking shaft of a magnet oscillator or vibrator enclosed in casing 8.

' The details of the magnet oscillator are not depicted in the drawings,however there are many types of magnet oscillators known in the artwhich may be utilized with this invention. Roller 3, which is in frontin working direction, is of a smaller diameter than rear roller 4. Bothrollers 3 and 4 have a peripheral groove 9 and 10 respectively(preferably wide and deep as shown) by means of which they embrace thework supporting needles 1 of machine 40 from top and bottom in therelationship as shown in the drawings. Groove 9 of the front roller 3 isless deep and less wide than groove 10 of the rear roller 4 so thatgroove 9 grips around only the cylindrical part of the needles, whilegroove 10 can embrace the needles down to the necessary impaling depthas shown particularly in FIGS. 3 and 4. The respective outer rims 11 and12 of the disc-shaped lateral walls of grooves 9 and 10 are chamferedtoward the interior. Casing 8 of the magnet oscillator is fastened on anarm 13 which can be pivoted around an axle 14. This arm may be heldelastically in the desired position by means of the lever 16 penetratinginto the slotted disc 15. Axle 14 is arranged on a bracket fastenedpivotally on the middle column of the looping machine, but which is notshown in detail in the drawings. The housing or casing 8 of the swingmagnet or oscillator 20 is mounted on an arm 13 capable of swinging on apivot 14. A pivot or axle 14 is mounted on a bracket arm fixed to theleg of the machine. The levers 16 which are pivotted on the bearing 23provided on the bracket arm 21 are held by spring action against thedisc attached to arm 13 and lying in its plane of swing, while engagingrests 25 on the circumference of the disc by rollers 24. On a stationaryshaft 17 which is mounted 'on casing 8, supplementary devices 18 may befastened such as edge pressing rollers, edge rules, oralsoopticalenlargement and illumination fixtures. On the extreme end ofshaft 17, a connection piece 19 may be provided in which the outerextremity of the extended shaft 7 is journaled. As

shown, the impaling device embraces the work supporting needles frombelow, the pivot pins 5 are directed upward so that rollers 3 and 4 canbe put on loosely from above and can be interchanged easily with othershaving different grooves -9 and 10 with respective widths and depthsadapted for use with the particular goods to be impaled and theparticular shape of the needles being utilized.

When the impalingdevice is swung in or blocked, respectively, in itswork position, rollers 3 and 4 are lifted by the gliding of theirrespective chamfered outer rims 11 and 12 on the extremities of the worksupporting needles in an adjustment corresponding to the curvature ofthe work supporting needles 1 and theform of these needles as shown inFIGS. 3 and 4. The fabric, being guided possibly with edge rollingdevices 18 under the front roller 3, is shifted by this roller first onthe extremities of the needles and then is shifted by rear roller 4 onthe needle shaft down to the desired depth. Because of the rapidvibrations of rollers 3 and 4, which is essentially in a directiontoward the needles and which is is generated by the magnet oscillatorprovided in casing 8, this impaling process is carried out. in asurprisingly effortless manner withouta special pressure on the rollersin one single passage and in a time corresponding and adapted to theworking cycle of the sewing device. Narrow groove 9 of front roller 3grips only around the extremities of the needles and its smallerpenetration depth prevents the danger that the fabrics 2 might tilt andget wedged between the needles and the lateral walls of the grooves.After the needle exits from the groove of roller 3 and reaches thegroove of rear roller 4, a wedging of the fabric already shifted on theextremities of the needle is no longer possible and therefore rearroller 4 can be adapted to the curvatures of the needle and thethickness of the fabric or the possible presence of seams. Enabling theaxial shifting of rollers 3 and 4 on their pivot pins 5 also assists inavoiding any obstacles which could lead to wedging such as the presenceof seams'in the fabric or deformed needles which is a prevalent problemwith the know impaling devices in the art. In this manner, by permittinga shifting of the rollers 3 and 4 this apparatus avoidsdamage of thistype occurring to the needles, The axial displaceability of rollers 3and 4 on their bearing pins 5 enables them to adapt themselves inposition with respect to obstacles such as seams in the goods or bentneedles, so that the obstacles cannot jam against either of the insidewalls of grooves 9 and 10.

This apparatus is not limited alone to looping machines of round andflat construction, but it can be used just as advantageously for thetransfer combs of straight knitters. For special and exceptional cases,it may also be suitable to use the apparatus of this invention as a handdevice.

Thus, the above mentioned objects of the invention, among others, areachieved.

Iclaim:

1. Apparatus including vibration means for the mechanical impaling ofweft-knitted and warp-knitted goods on needles of knit-goods machinessuch as a looping machine comprising:

means on said apparatus to removably mount the apparatus to a machinehaving a plurality of needles thereon;

each of said needles having a longitudinal axis;

a first and second roller on the apparatus with each roller having aperipheral groove embracing the needles;

each roller being mounted on an axle on the ap paratus;

vibration means on said apparatus;

said rollers being vibrated by the vibration means in a directionsubstantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the needle embracedthereby;

said first and second rollers adapted to transfer the vibration causedby said vibration means to the goods to be impaled; said rollersarranged so as to have their grooves embracing the needles consecutivelywith the first roller leading said second roller;

said first roller having a groove of less depth than the groove of thesecond roller to narrowly embrace the extremity of each needle;

said second roller having a wider groove than the groove of the firstroller adapted to any predetermined curvature of a needle and thethickness of the goods; and

said rollers being axially shiftable on their axles.

2. The invention in accordance with claim 1 wherein each roller has apair of substantially parallel discshaped lateral walls, a portion ofsaid walls defining the side walls of said groove, and the outer edgeportions of the rollers are adapted to be removably mountedon theiraxles.

5. The invention in accordance with claim 1 wherein said apparatus isadapted for hand use.

6. The invention in accordance with Claim 1 wherein in the means on saidapparatus for removably mounting the apparatus to a machine includingmeans to permit the apparatus to be swung and blocked.

. WTEU STATES PATENT OFFICE I Q ERHHQATE 0 wRREcTmN Pat emf No. 3, 69 67'64 I fimt' ed b 1972' it is terrified that eiror appear in theabove-identified patent I v and that said Letters Patent are herebycorrected as shown below:

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1. Apparatus including vibration means for the mechanical impaling ofweft-knitted and warp-knitted goods on needles of knit-goods machinessuch as a looping machine comprising: means on said apparatus toremovably mount the apparatus to a machine having a plurality of needlesthereon; each of said needles having a longitudinal axis; a first andsecond roller on the apparatus with each roller having a peripheralgroove embracing the needles; each roller being mounted on an axle onthe apparatus; vibration means on said apparatus; said rollers beingvibrated by the vibration means in a direction substantially parallel tothe longitudinal axis of the needle embraced thereby; said first andsecond rollers adapted to transfer the vibration caused by saidvibration means to the goods to be impaled; said rollers arranged so asto have their grooves embracing the needles consecutively with the firstroller leading said second roller; said first roller having a groove ofless depth than the groove of the second roller to narrowly embrace theextremity of each needle; said second roller having a wider groove thanthe groove of the first roller adapted to any predetermined curvature ofa needle and the thickness of the goods; and said rollers being axiallyshiftable on their axles.
 2. The invention in accordance with claim 1wherein each roller has a pair of substantially parallel disc-shapedlateral walls, a portion of said walls defining the side walls of saidgroove, and the outer edge portions of each of said lateral walls beingchamfered toward the bottom of said groove.
 3. The invention inaccordance with claim 1 wherein said rollers are adapted to be removablymounted on a common sized axle thereby permitting the utilization of amultiplicity of interchangeable rollers with the rollers having avariety of different diameters and the grooves therein having a varietyof different depths and widths.
 4. The invention in accordance withclaim 1 wherein the rollers are adapted to be removably mounted on theiraxles.
 5. The invention in accordance with claim 1 wherein saidapparatus is adapted for hand use.
 6. The invention in accoRdance withClaim 1 wherein in the means on said apparatus for removably mountingthe apparatus to a machine including means to permit the apparatus to beswung and blocked.